Panther
by Wing-Lover
Summary: Maximum is a black panther that lives in a zoo with her friend Ignite. She is bored every day until an unusual human dressed in black helps her realize she has a power that she never knew she had. Maximum is unwillingly thrown into a world of tricks, betrayals, and battles, and a decision between herself and her favorite boy in black.
1. Prologue

_Summary_

_Maximum is a black panther that lives in a zoo with her friend Ignite. She is bored every day until an unusual human dressed in black helps her realize she has a power that she never knew she had. Maximum is unwillingly thrown into a world of tricks, betrayals, and battles, and a decision between herself and her favorite boy in black._

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**A/N: Hey guys I thought of this story when I was looking at the panthers at the San Diego zoo I was so sad when they keep pacing the fence of their habitat. And I was like what if Max lived at a zoo and desperately wanted to get out. Pretty good idea right, yeah , Please review I would really appreciate it. So, on with the story.**

**~Wing Lover**

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*Five years ago*

I blinked, trying to shake off the unnatural sleep. I took in my surroundings. Warm black fur encased me, blocking me from whatever lies behind the furry barrier. I pushed in between the two bodies, "Man," I thought, "these guys are heavy!" I broke free of the musty scent, and gazed around my new surroundings, stretching my legs as I did. The ground was soft, small yellow, brown flakes cushioned my every move they smelled a little like trees. The walls were a harsh gray from the floor to ceiling. The ceiling made me feel trapped, claustrophobic even. The room itself was rater large, to me. I padded over to the large pile of breathing black fur.

I was able to decipher three individual shapes, two small and one large Black Panthers. I prodded the closest lump with an outstretched paw. "I am trying to sleep!" he declared, obviously still tired. I poked him again trying to wake him up. "Go. Away," he growled. "No." and then I sat on his back. "Ugh!" he lifted his head and growled, "Aright, I'm up." "Hi, my name is Maximum."I stated. "M'kay, odd name but who am I to talk, mine is Ignite." Ignite pushed me off of his back and I 'gracefully' plopped on the ground beside him. "So…" he said trying to start a conversation, "how did you get here?" I searched my mind for an answer. Nothing. "Not sure," I responded, "How 'bout you?"

Ignite's amber eyes darkened to a light brown, "I can't remember either," he mumbled. There was a full grown black panther curled around a kit that was much smaller than Ignite and I. "Let's wake her up!" I whispered glancing between the kit and Ignite. I softly padded across the room to the kit, grabbed her by the scruff of her neck and dragged her not so gently to where Ignite was perched. I let her head drop on to the floor and sat beside Ignite. "Hey!" she growled menacingly, "I was trying to sleep!" I rolled my eyes and asked, "What is your name?"

"The name is Amber and don't think try to boss me around, I'm in charge here," she growled in arrogance, her unusually bright amber eyes flashing. "Are you sure?" I scoffed. A growl ripped through Amber's chest, and she jumped at me claws extended. I rolled my eyes, again, and easily side-sided her attempt at an attack.

I whipped my head to look at her while she recovered from slamming into the ground. I leapt gracefully onto Amber's back, which knocked the breath out her. I bent down to her and whispered sarcastically, "Anger issues, much?" She growled. Amber wiggled out from underneath me and turned around and looked into my eyes. Her eyes amber mesmerized me and I couldn't feel the ground under my paws. I was jerked out of my trance when sharp claws ripped through my midnight pelt; I reacted quickly lifting my paws to slice her as she circled me. I growled, frustrated, when a large black paw moved me away from Amber.

I clawed the callused paw pad and snarled when I didn't get a response. I was brought around to look at the face of the adult panther. "Now, now," she spoke softly, but I could see in her odd black eyes that if she wanted she could easily kill the most seasoned fighter, "don't fight." Amber was nodding happily, but I wasn't bought by the adult just yet. "Why?" I asked rolling my eyes. "Because, it is bad to fight friends," she resounded in all seriousness. "We aren't friends," Amber protested quietly.

I rolled my eyes, I seem to do that a lot, don't I, but I did what she asked. "Who are you," Ignite asked. He must have stayed very quiet while Amber and I fought because I didn't notice him. "My name is Midnight and I am going to be your surrogate mother, for now." Ignite and Amber seemed to accept that, but I couldn't shake that knowing glint in her eyes when she looked at me. "Come and sleep," Midnight purred. Even I couldn't argue that it felt like my paws were one hundred pounds each. I happily obliged. Midnight lay down on the soft ground and nodded for us to come over. I curled in-between Ignite and Amber, warm and happy I closed my eyes. Right before I fell into a deep sleep I heard, "Sleep tight Maximum."

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**I hope you like **

**R&R**


	2. Unexpected Color

_Summary_

_Maximum is a black panther that lives in a zoo with her friend Ignite. She is bored every day until an unusual human dressed in black helps her realize she has a power that she never knew she had. Maximum is unwillingly thrown into a world of tricks, betrayals, and battles, and a decision between herself and her favorite boy in black._

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Last Time on Panther

"My name is Midnight and I am going to be your surrogate mother, for now." Ignite and Amber seemed to accept that, but I couldn't shake that knowing glint in her eyes when she looked at me. "Come and sleep," Midnight purred. Even I couldn't argue that it felt like my paws were one hundred pounds each. I happily obliged. Midnight lay down on the soft ground and nodded for us to come over. I curled in-between Ignite and Amber, warm and happy I closed my eyes. Right before I fell into a deep sleep I heard, "Sleep tight Maximum."

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**A/N Yay this chapter is up and thanks for the reviews Horsegirl2509 , miamia114 , and DreamWisherofWings. Um Yeah Please review hope you like this Chapter. **

***Now* **

I see the small, weak zebra and lick my lips in excitement. I creep in to the shadows of a tree, trusting my dark color to keep me hidden. I am about ten feet away from the lulling scent of fresh meat; the dumb striped animal didn't notice anything wrong about the situation and just keep eating the long tan grass. I was crouched so low to the ground that the grasses tickled my nose. My feet made no sound on the orange dirt. I bunched up the muscles in my hindquarters and leapt. I am a foot away, an inch now; my claws met the warm, thick pelt of zebra... I was woken up by a human turning on the light in our 'prison cell'. Well it isn't really a prison but it certainly does look like one; the floor was cold and gray. The walls were an unnatural shade of white. Chain-link fence separated me from Iggy's cage, so that I can still see and talk to him but can't 'injury' him in anyway. I started calling Ignite, Iggy when we were both one year old and I decide that Iggy was easier to say. My cage wasn't that big, but I had enough space to stretch. "Iggy! Wake up!" "Max," Iggy murmured, "can't you see that I am 'trying' to get my beauty sleep," he flopped his head to the side to look at me and added, "you do have an unfortunate habit of waking me up every morning before I'm ready," I could tell that he was still half-asleep or else he would be WAY more annoyed. I stood up stretching my aching muscles, the stupid humans haven't allowed Iggy and I out of these cages in four days and I NEED EXERCISE. I have been hearing odd, loud banging sounds from outside of the wooden door (the humans open it when we are allowed to go into the habitat.) Just then a human walked in the hall in front of the cages of Iggy and me, his shoes making echoing sounds on the concrete floor, he was carrying two silver bowls of raw meat. Iggy was already wide awake and licking his lips in anticipation of eating. The human opened a small door in the front of Iggy's cage and slid the bowl in. He walked over to my cage and tried to do the same thing but just to annoy him I settled right in front of my food door. I could tell he was frustrated. The male human pushed the bowl against my solid black fur, I growled at him and he noticeably flinched. I moved but only because I was really hungry. As soon as he slid my food into my cage he ran out the door. "Max, you really shouldn't do that," Iggy said. I just rolled my eyes and continued to inhale my food. I surprised to hear the creaking of the wood door that separated us from the outside world. I scented the fresh air as it wafted with to my cage. As soon as I could I bounded out of the opening. I closed my eyes in happiness of feeling the soft, green grass under my paw pads. I opened my eyes and I looked around. 'Wow' is all I could think the habitat had grown, a lot, there were four more trees to climb in and I could see Iggy was already settled in the dark branches of the nearest tree. There was a small pond with clear water! The only water that I have ever had was the murky water in my water bowl. If you are wondering about where Amber went, well I will tell you. When we were two years old Amber and I were fighting to see who should been in charge, you know the usual, but this time she was even angrier than normal and she tried to kill me. So I brought her to an inch of losing her life, then the humans came and took her to heal her wounds but never brought her back. Oh and Midnight was taken away right after we could eat solid food. So now it's just Iggy and I. I walked over to the pond to get a drink of water. I lapped thirstily and licked my lips, knocking the water off of my whiskers. I looked down at my reflection and found myself staring into my ice blue eyes that I didn't know I had.


	3. Trapped

_Summary_

_Maximum is a black panther that lives in a zoo with her friend Ignite. She is bored every day until an unusual human dressed in black helps her realize she has a power that she never knew she had. Maximum is unwillingly thrown into a world of tricks, betrayals, and battles, and a decision between herself and her favorite boy in black._

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_**A/N: Welcome back to my story panther. Thanks for reviewing **_**Horsegirl2509 (I hope this chapter answers your question), ****maxride227****, and DreamWisherofWings (Thanks I appreciate the compliment. Sorry this chapter is so short, writers block. **

**Maximum Ride Belongs to James Patterson. Plot belongs to me. **

**Me: *shrugs* on with the story\**

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Max Point of View

"Iggy," I purred, my voice dripping with fake sweetness, "come down here. I have to ask you something." He slid down the tree he was hidden in and padded slowly across the grass waving in the breeze. It's like he knew something was wrong, weird right? "What's up Max?" he said cautiously, not wanting to make me blow up with anger**. (A/N: see what I did there 'blow up' cause he's Iggy and blows stuff up like bombs, hahahaha, well never mind)**

"Why. Would. You. Not. Tell. Me. That. I. Have. BLUE EYES!" I said growling in annoyance/anger, I guess he still made me angry. Oh that is too bad, isn't it? "Well...You see… um" Iggy started sheepishly not meeting my eyes, "Midnight had black eyes and Amber had… well amber eyes and you have blue eyes. Why can't everyone have different color eyes?"

I stood still thinking about what he had told me. I snarled at him and padded away, fuming, to and rock formation I hadn't seen earlier. The sun was beating down on my black fur, making me uncomfortable. There was a small opening in the hill of grayish rocks; it looked like there might be a cave. Perhaps it wouldn't be so hot in there. Iggy had climbed back up the tree, his long, black claws leaving permanent scars in the rough trunk, and was now settled in the shaded, leafy branches

. He knew when I was mad it was best to just leave me alone and let me calm down by myself, like a storm. I squeezed through the small hole in the rock, to be assaulted be flashing lights. The hole that I came in had been replaced like a rock that looked like all of the rest. The cave I came into had bumpy stone floors, and more large rocks (what's up with all these freaking rocks!) made up the walls. The wall in front of me was very weird. It was transparent and I could see stupid humans looking at me.

Young, old, fat, skinny, you name it there was a human like that there. Most of them were holding black boxes that where making bright flashes. The cave was small, constricted; sure I could turn around but still NOT ENOUGH SPACE people. I was trapped in here and there were no sounds expected for the soft scraping of me dragging my paws as I paced back and forth.

It was utterly boring so I stopped pacing and looked at the humans more. Most of the small ones were pressed up against the transparent wall knocking on it really hard, older females where tugging on their kits** (A/N: Max doesn't know that toddlers/kids are called children) **arms, mouthing something in their ears. But I can't hear anything the walls must be sound proof.

After what seemed like days the humans started filing out of the hallway where they were watching me. One person remained a male. Unlike other humans he whore only one color, black. He was tall, his hair covered one eye. The eye I could see was black, like a dark abyss that someone could fall into forever.

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**A/N: YAY! Fangles! Yes that is Fang :). Just in case you didn't understand the zookeepers put max in a smaller pen, cave, thing, so that people could see her for the first time. I'll try to update tomorrow or Friday.**

**Me: Wing Lover out. PEACE! (no worries I'm not a hippie, not that I have anything against hippies, ya'll so rainbowy and cool. Has anyone ever seen a rainbow I've only seen two rmpajdjfoidnkaf… *random person puts hand on my mouth* BYE  
**


	4. Amber

**A/N: Hey ya'll sorry for the wait. OK one thing I wanted to say is it kinda hurts when I have 532 viewers and only 10 reviews. Now, on to thanking my reviewers maxride227, DreamWisherofWings, GagaBear18, Terri1456. Also I like to reply to my reviews so…. **

**To maxride227, : ) **

**To DreamWisherofWings: Thanks I always enjoy reading your reviews : ) **

**To GagaBear18: I'm happy Fang's here too…**

**To: Terri1456: Lol that's happened to me before…**

**I haven't yet found a cure for writer's block but if anyone knows a cure be sure to leave a review telling me how. **

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_Recap _

_After what seemed like days the humans started filing out of the hallway where they were watching me. One person remained a male. Unlike other humans he whore only one color, black. He was tall, his hair covered one eye. The eye I could see was black, like a dark abyss that someone could fall into forever._

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I woke up, disoriented, from a dazed sleep. For a moment I panicked, thrashing out blindly, clawing at nothing. _Calm down Max,_ I thought. I am still in the same small cage that had the smooth stone floors and the odd transparent wall that the humans looked at me for days on end. Oh yeah, you heard me right, days. The stupid humans kept me in that small cave for days. Every twelve hours a human brought me food and water. I kept waiting for the odd male to come back, I don't know why; it isn't like I could talk to him, but looking into his eyes was enough for me. The way they made me forgot my name, a dizzying fall into a pool of night with silver gold stars. I shook my head and mentally slapped myself and chanted to myself, HUMANS ARE STUPID THEY ARE BAD. I signed, frustrated, and went back into a light sleep.

I was startled out of the sleep by the sound of stones scraping together. I blink, blinded by a sudden bright light. The hole, the one I crawled through to get to the cave, was open. I quickly slide through it again. I am so relived to feel the wind dancing through my thick black fur and the scent of grass running in and out of my nose. The first thing I see is Iggy pacing back and forth anxiously along a transparent wall, similar to the one in the cave, expect for this one was massive, at least twelve feet tall. Humans were standing on the other side holding black boxes close to their eyes. Iggy hadn't noticed me yet so I called, "Iggy! Come here." "Max," he sighed, in what, relief? "Max, I was so scared that they took you away just like they did Amber, oh and also the humans put another panther in here he said his name was..." he was cut off by a painful memory flashing into my mind.

_"MAX!"Amber's terrified voice called out to me from the other side of habitat. I immediately averted my gaze from looking at the sky without thought to bounding over to where Amber was being forcefully dragged by humans into a large hole in the wall of boulders. She was trying to claw her captors but her front and back feet tied together by a thick gold rope .Her bright golden eye showed fear clearly, her mouth opened in a silent scream. As soon as I was a foot away from her an intense pain that started at the base of my tail spread across my body. I was momentarily stopped in shock but then quickly proceeded to rip my claws down the closest human's leg, but I couldn't help but notice how my legs seemed to weigh a thousand pounds. I look to the base of my tail where another burst of pain originated; I saw two bright flashes of color. My vision had started getting blurry. I fell to the ground, my body making a soft thump on the ground; I could feel the world spinning around and around me. I look to Amber, my eyes pleading with her to forgive me. Amber's eyes were the only thing I could focus on and they showed fear, pain and sadness. Since Amber and I were kits, we had become very good friends and I was like her over protective big sister. I loved her just like a sister. The door made of boulders slammed in front of me and all hope that I could save her vanished and guilt replaced the hope. I allowed the darkness to overcome me. _

"Max," Iggy purred trying to comfort me. I realized that I had gone rigid all of my muscles gone tense. I laid down right beside Iggy's paws and allow myself to close my eyes to cure my sudden need-for-sleep. ( I have slept a lot today… haven't I.

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**An arrow pointing to the review button : ) **

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	5. Shadow

_Summary_

_Maximum is a black panther that lives in a zoo with her friend Ignite. She is bored every day until an unusual human dressed in black helps her realize she has a power that she never knew she had. Maximum is unwillingly thrown into a world of tricks, betrayals, and battles, and a decision between herself and her favorite boy in black._

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**A/N: Well Hiii there everybody thank you for reviewing maxride227, DreamWisherofWings, GagaBear18, Terri1456, and haha. **

**To: maxride227: : ) you just like making faces, don't you **

**To: DreamWisherofWings: Well I'm sure that my gecko love the arrow (just saying) and ice cream doesn't just cure writer's block it cures everything!**

**To: Terri1456: Well here is the update! so yeah…**

**To: GagaBear18: OMG this help so much thanks, I re-read my entire story and listen to music (no battle symphonies on my iPod) **

**To: haha: Thank you and I am working on making it longer : )**

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**Okay this chapter is in the Igster's point of view, just because I like him (not as Fang or Max though, sorry Iggy obsessesors (is that a word) Oh and sorry that the recap is like half a chapter I couldn't really cut Amber's scene in half**

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_"MAX!"Amber's terrified voice called out to me from the other side of habitat. I immediately averted my gaze from looking at the sky without thought to bounding over to where Amber was being forcefully dragged by humans into a large hole in the wall of boulders. She was trying to claw her captors but her front and back feet tied together by a thick gold rope .Her bright golden eye showed fear clearly, her mouth opened in a silent scream. As soon as I was a foot away from her an intense pain that started at the base of my tail spread across my body. I was momentarily stopped in shock but then quickly proceeded to rip my claws down the closest human's leg, but I couldn't help but notice how my legs seemed to weigh a thousand pounds. I look to the base of my tail where another burst of pain originated; I saw two bright flashes of color. My vision had started getting blurry. I fell to the ground, my body making a soft thump on the ground; I could feel the world spinning around and around me. I look to Amber, my eyes pleading with her to forgive me. Amber's eyes were the only thing I could focus on and they showed fear, pain and sadness. Since Amber and I were kits, we had become very good friends and I was like her over protective big sister. I loved her just like a sister. The door made of boulders slammed in front of me and all hope that I could save her vanished and guilt replaced the hope. I allowed the darkness to overcome me._

_"Max," Iggy purred trying to comfort me. I realized that I had gone rigid all of my muscles gone tense. I laid down right beside Iggy's paws and allow myself to close my eyes to cure my sudden need-for-sleep. ( I have slept a lot today… haven't I.)_

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Iggy P.O.V.

"Iggy! Come here." I looked in the direction where her voice came from; I was so relieved to see her. Max is my basically my sister I mean we grew up together. If I didn't have her as a constant companion, I think that I would have gone crazy.

Well I mean…urrm...crazier than I am naturally… "Max, I was so scared that they took you away just like they did Amber, oh and also the humans put another panther in here he said his name was…" I stopped myself right after I realized my mistake. The only traumatic experience she had ever had was losing her little sister. You see, when Max, Amber, and I turned four, those stupid humans took away Amber. Max thinks that it is all her fault that she couldn't save Amber.

There are still nights when she wakes up, gasping, after having a flashback of it. I was terrified that day, I was still locked in my cage so I had to witness, Amber being dragged away and Max desperately trying to free Amber. In the end Max got shot with some kind of dart and dropped to the ground sleeping. Max had gone rigid beside me, so I started to… well try to sooth her "Max, it's okay" I purred trying to comfort her. After her episodes she was usually really tired, so I wasn't surprised when she curled around and started to snore softly. **(A/N: do panthers snore?) **

Since we were outside and it was getting dark I grabbed her scruff tenderly with my teeth and pulled her inside of hollow hole in a rock mountain… thing? I stopped dragging her once I reached the inside of the cave, hollow hole, in a rock mountain… thing. We'll call it mountain hole for now.

Shadow was lying down with his head on his paws. Remember I was telling Max about him before she had an episode. We talked for awhile when Max was gone, pretty nice guy, not very talkative, but nice. Evidently he came from a very beautiful kind of forest, where there were so many trees that you couldn't see the sky, where birds with wings of blue, red, and yellow flew far above your head. He also told me that he hunted and killed his own food! He had prowled the floors of the forest like a shadow earning his name. Shadow raised his head and blinked his odd obsidian eyes open.

"Hey," see I told you he didn't talk much. "Hey Shadow, this is Maximum but if you call her that you won't see your ears in the morning," he rolled his eyes, I hope that he and Max get along I really don't enjoy burring bodies, mud always gets in between my claws, "right now she is sleeping, duh, but you can talk to her in the morning.

Max was still sleeping a couple hours after that I decided that she had slept long enough, so I woke her up, let's not get into details but I'll just say it wasn't very fun on my part or Shadow's or Max's, OK it just wasn't fun in general . Okay so now we have a snickering Shadow and an angry Max, this is not going to end well. Max growled viciously, "Now, I don't know who you are, but you should learn not to laugh at me when I rudely waken up," she shot a glare in my general direction.

Just don't reply, just don't reply, I thought desperately to Shadow. "Well, who has their tail in a knot," Shadow replied, just like I told him not to. CAN'T ANYONE HEAR MY MENTAL THOUGHTS! Max's eyes flash blue and then turned entirely gold and leaped at Shadow. Well that is surprising, not the Max jumping on Shadow, but her eyes turning gold. I'm sure it's perfectly normal.

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**A/N **

**Please Review I LOVE reading reviews (btw to all my reviewers who review very chapter a big round of applause to you, kept doing what you doing) Since I have 22 followers lets have 5 reviews. SO 5 reviews= an update**

**Me: Look I can do Math!**

**Random Person: *slaps hand over mouth* **

**Me: okmaym lkfjrelkjeaklalkjay (translation: okay really I didn't even say that much)**

**BYE**


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